Top 10 Vegan-Friendly Cities in Europe in 2017

There have been a lot of articles floating around recently talking about the most vegan-friendly cities in the U.S. or the most vegan-friendly cities in the world. However, if you look these articles, you’ll notice one thing in common – there is no rubric or basis for choosing certain cities beyond the fact that the writer had some good vegan food there.So, naturally, we decided to write our own list to the most vegan-friendly cities in Europe – based on facts and with some parameters.

We used the number of fully vegan restaurants listed on HappyCow (like a vegan Yelp) as a barometer. This isn’t a failsafe method as there surely are vegan-friendly cities in Europe with few vegan restaurants but vegan options aplenty in traditional cuisine. However, we feel that the number of all-vegan restaurants is a pretty good indicator of how vegan-friendly a city is and the strength of their vegan community.

Sure, there are many places whose traditional cuisine can be quite vegan-friendly and we always love to search out vegan dishes in traditional cuisine. But these accidentally vegan dishes are exactly that – accidental. If possible, we like to support people – like those that own vegan restaurants – that are consciously working towards a more plant-based world.

We also used this method because it’s what we do. Every time we visit a new city, we check out Happy Cow and read guides by local bloggers. This is what has helped us to write our many vegan city guides and eat great vegan food throughout Europe and the U.S. So until someone points us out a better way, here’s a great way to figure out how vegan-friendly a city is.

To assist in your vegan travels, we’ve also linked guides by vegan bloggers who live in these respective cities (where possible). There are surely plenty of other articles and blog posts on each of these cities (link us to them!). But what better way to learn about a city’s vegan scene than from a long-term resident?

Top 10 Most Vegan-Friendly Cities in Europe in 2017

One more thing to keep in mind – the actual proportion of vegan spots to the total population. For example, when measured per capita, Salt Lake City is on track with Portland, which crushes New York City.

1. London – 76 Vegan Restaurants

It’s no surprise that London grabs the top spot here. Like NYC in the U.S., it’s hard to compete with a city of eight million. Every month there are multiple vegan street fairs, events, and meetups. Some unique vegan restaurants include the recently opened and insanely popular Temple of Hackney featuring vegan fried chick’n made from seitan, an all-vegan Japanese restaurant, vegan doner kebab, vegan Ethiopian, a plethora of vegan cafes…ok we’ll stop now.

Have recommendations? Send them our way in the comments, message us on Instagram or Facebook, or send us an email – we’ll be in London this summer!

2. Berlin – 55 Vegan Restaurants

Berlin is often known as the “vegan capital of Europe” – and it’s a well-deserved title. With a population of 3 million and yet almost 60 vegan restaurants (about the same as NYC), the city is a wonderland for plant-based food. Berlin is home to one of the largest vegan festivals in Europe, Veganes SommerFest, as well as a chain of vegan grocery stores, Veganz. Some of the popular vegan eateries include Let It Be vegan creperie, Brammibal’s vegan donut shop, and Voner, a vegan doner kebab joint (among many others, see guides below).

Where to Stay: Almodóvar Hotel is an organic vegetarian design hotel (vegan, gluten-free, and raw options as well) that includes a yoga mat in every room, perfect for keeping active on the go (we do yoga every morning). They’re located just a few blocks from Berlin’s vegan mini-mall including Veganz (vegan supermarket), a vegan shoe store, and a vegan cafe, and a vegan restaurant. Click here to check availability and current rates.

3. Paris – 45 Vegan Restaurants

Though eating vegan in other parts of France may prove more difficult due to the use of butter and cheese in all the things French cooking, eating vegan in the French capital is sure to be a delight. Vegan cafes galore, a vegan brasserie, and plenty of more health-focused juice spots abound. Just since we started writing this article, three new all-vegan places have popped up!

4. Prague – 38 Vegan Restaurants

Prague is perhaps the most surprising on this list because of its comparatively small size (1.26 million) compared to other cities listed here. The city is bursting with old school charm in every corner, so even if the small Old Town can be overwhelmed with tourists in the summer months. Most people only spend a few days in the Czech capital, so you’ll likely not be able to come close to trying all the delicious vegan food on offer in just one visit! Try vegan Czech food (including bac’n dumplings!) at Plevel, visit all vegan-grocery store Veganz, or take a I Like Veggie walking food tour.

5. Warsaw – 37 Vegan Restaurants

While Warsaw often gets overshadowed in favor of popular student city Krakow, the capital city of Poland is certainly worth a visit, with sprawling parks and a beautiful (if completely rebuilt) Old Town. Many vegan travelers have expressed their surprise upon arriving in Warsaw and finding a plethora of vegan restaurants. Jub of TikiTouringKiwi even called it the “new Berlin of the East” because of its vegan food scene.

6. Budapest – 22 Vegan Restaurants

Having Hungarian blood (my grandfather was born in raised in Budapest and I still have a lot of family in Hungary), I’m proud to see Budapest on this list. Though I’ve been to this beautiful city many times, only one of those times has been since I became vegan. I was dead broke after a long trip so didn’t have much money to eat out, sadly. Napfenyes Restaurant serves up Hungarian food veganized, there are veggie burger joints, and an artisanal all vegan cheese shop just opened (say whaaa).

Resources: Nicole of Vegan Nom Noms lived in Budapest for a month and wrote an extensive vegan guide to the city here. Vegan Vs. Travel currently lives in Budapest and has rounded up her best spots in her post Best Places to Eat Out in Budapest.

7. Madrid – 25 Vegan Restaurants

Frankly, we’re tired of hearing that Madrid’s vegan scene sucks or that it has a long way to go. With 25 fully vegan restaurants, many vegetarian restaurants, and vegan options throughout the city, Madrid has a thriving vegan scene and deserves way more recognition than it gets for being vegan-friendly. Madrid vegans are passionate about veganism and there are frequently animal rights protests, vegan events, dinners, and more. All of this has happened in the past few years, which is even more impressive. We’ve had some amazing vegan food in Madrid, with many places offering up veganized versions of traditional classic Spanish foods, like croquetas and tortilla.

8. Vienna – 21 Vegan Restaurants

When we first wrote this list, Vienna was tied with Lisbon and Rome with 19, but with our second revision, it’s climbed to number 8, with two new fully vegan restaurants opening recently. Among Vienna’s vegan restaurants include the local chain, Swing Kitchen, which does not use plastic and plays swing music in the background while you eat. There’s also an all raw bakery and a vegan Chinese restaurant with a lunch buffet, among other yummy spots.

9. Lisbon – 19 Vegan Restaurants

Lisbon is a beautiful city (though let’s be real, what city on this list isn’t?) with a thriving vegan scene to boot. Portugal also just mandated vegan food to be served in prisons and public schools, so it’s safe to say that this small country is at the forefront of veganism in Europe.

10. Rome – 19 Vegan Restaurants

While many people think of Italy as the land of cheese and prosciutto, Italian food is actually very veggie friendly, naturally. Like in Spain, they cook in olive oil, not butter, and many vegetarian pasta dishes and even pizzas are made without any dairy. We were pleasantly surprised with the wealth of fully vegan restaurants during our house sitting stint in Florence, so it came as no surprise to us to see Italy’s capital on this list.

Honorable Mentions for the Best Vegan Food in Europe!

We got so carried away we couldn’t stop at just 10. Here are a couple cities that almost made the list!

Barcelona – 15 Vegan Restaurants

Madrid and Barcelona have a bit of a rivalry. Outside of Spain, Barcelona is more well-known and more frequently visited than the capital. Often we hear that Barcelona is way more vegan-friendly than Madrid and if we’re talking strictly per capita, it’s true. Barcelona is half the size of Madrid (1.5 million to Madrid’s 3), yet it has almost as many vegan spots. Interesting spots include Vegan Cat Bar, etc…

Copenhagen – 14 Vegan Restaurants

If you know one thing about Copenhagen, it’s probably that there are bikes everywhere. In fact, the city was named the European Green Capital for 2015 due to its environmental initiatives. The Danish are already quite eco-conscious, so it goes hand in hand that there’d be a great vegan scene there. We’ve been put off so far from visiting due to the high prices. But if you do make the trip, there are plenty of vegan spots to keep you occupied.

It’s important to note that the vegan demographic is an easy target for those wanting to make money off a growing movement. Despite being such a small percentage of the population, there is a large and vocal vegan community. To give you some examples from Madrid, we’ve come across a couple of non-vegan restaurants that have labeled “vegan options” on their menus that are not in fact vegan. Another example from Bucharest – most vegan restaurants there use honey as a sweetener. In Florence, we discovered that (by asking employees) gelato listed as vegan actually contained cow’s milk.

Ultimately, for those looking for reliable information, you need to consider the source. Find someone who’s actually on the ground in the place you’re visiting.

Further Resources:

Vegan Travel FB Group: A great worldwide resource with 15K members. Head here to ask any and all questions vegan travel. But please – use the search bar first as your question may have been answered already!

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Posts written by Sam and Veren are collaborative, informative posts that we write and edit together. These posts include our vegan city guides and informative house sitting and expat life in Spain posts.

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Hi! We're Sam and Veren, a couple originally from New York that is now based in Madrid, Spain. We slow travel on a budget via housesitting and aim to show that neither traveling nor eating vegan has to be expensive or difficult.

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